I would try using the older wheel Win32::MCI::Basic / Win32::MCI::CD , it comes with mciGetErrorString

site:perlmonks.org Win32::MCI -> Get CDDB info on Win32

update: And it works on WinXP :)

#!/usr/bin/perl --
use strict; use warnings;
use Win32::MCI::Basic;

Main( @ARGV );
exit( 0 );

sub Main {
    my $sFileName = shift or die "Usage: $0  C:\media\sh-boom.mp3 \n";
    
    Shabba( qq{open "$sFileName" alias MediaFile } ); # OK!
## http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms709461%28v=VS.85%29.aspx#
+ MCI
    
    my $length = Shabba( qq{status MediaFile length } );
    
    Shabba( qq{play MediaFile from 0 } );
    
    my $position = Shabba( qq{status MediaFile position} );
    
    while ( $position < $length ){
        sleep 1;
        $position = Shabba( qq{status MediaFile position} );
    }
    
    Shabba( qq{close MediaFile } );
}

sub Shabba {
    my $lpszCommand = shift;
    my ( $APICallReturnValue, $lpszReturnString ) = mciSendString($lps
+zCommand);
    my $lpszErrorText = mciGetErrorString( $APICallReturnValue );
    no warnings 'uninitialized';
    print "
\$lpszCommand        : $lpszCommand 
\$APICallReturnValue : $APICallReturnValue
\$lpszReturnString   : $lpszReturnString 
\$lpszErrorText      : $lpszErrorText 
----
";
    return $lpszReturnString ;
}
__END__
[download]

update: Win32::MediaPlayer has $mciSendString = new Win32::API( "winmm", "mciSendString", ['P', 'P', 'N', 'N'], 'N' )

Where as Win32::MCI::Basic has  new Win32::API('winmm',    'mciSendString',    ['P','P','I','P'],    'N');

Sometimes old wheels are better :)